


she was an american girl

by orphan_account



Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies)
Genre: BAMF Tina Goldstein, Character Study, Daydreaming, Decisions, F/M, Fluff, Introspection, Minor Queenie Goldstein/Jacob Kowalski, POV Tina Goldstein, Tina Goldstein Centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-14
Updated: 2018-02-14
Packaged: 2019-03-18 14:38:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,916
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13683714
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Tina finds her mind wandering lately, and comes to the logical conclusion that she should have come to long ago:She's in America.  And everyone she loves is in England.So why is she still here?





	she was an american girl

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Too_Much_Fandom](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Too_Much_Fandom/gifts).



> Song is 'American Girl' - Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

Tina discovers new things about herself all the time, it seems.  

Lately, it’s proven especially true.  Her most recent realization -- the one that occurred to her as she sat at her desk in the Department of Aurors at MACUSA -- pertains to how her mind, left to its own devices, was more apt to wander than not. 

This wasn’t especially a good thing, considering her line of work. Fortunately, when her mind did wander (more often than not) it headed to the same place.  Or to the same  _ person _ , as the case may be.

In Tina Goldstein’s case, her mind wandered to Newt Scamander. To the ring she has on her left hand. To his case of creatures.  To his inescapable green eyes.  His freckled skin.  

It wasn’t just when she was bored, either. It was when she  _ shouldn’t _ be.  It was when, by every right, she should be paying attention to what she was doing. What’s more, she shouldn’t have  _ wanted _ to daydream. She was working.  And she was finally  _ finally  _ back to doing the job she was born to do.  

Except now, it felt more like she  _ had _ to do it, than she was born to do it.  

And that was why she was bored.  And hence, why she was daydreaming.  

She reached down to run her fingers over the ring Newt had given her the last time he visited.  Well, technically, the second time he’d visited since she’d first met him in December of 1926.  

The first time he’d visited, he’d brought along a copy of his book for her, as promised.  And the second time, he’d brought the ring.  

She could still see the trepidation in his eyes. Trepidation that disappeared when she said yes.  The tremor in his fingers as he slipped the ring onto hers.  

She’d felt more alive in that moment, in the life the ring promised, than she felt right now.  

And while she didn’t want to give up her career of being an Auror, maybe, she thought, just  _ maybe _ , she might relocate it somewhere else. Somewhere… closer to the person who made her feel so alive. 

There were whispers in the department. 

Had been for some time. 

Whispers about Tina. 

And for once, they weren’t anything bad.  In fact, they concerned an upcoming promotion.  A position she’d been coveting for quite some time. The opportunity to be in charge of her own squadron.  

So perhaps, that might put some spring in her step. It might help the blood pump through her veins.  

Perhaps.  

She might be able to pay attention then. If she had her own squadron to worry over. To worry  _ about _ .  Her mind might not wander like it had been. 

It might not flit over each individual freckle on Newt’s face.  

The scratchy stubble on his chin that he’d been sporting on his last visit. Tina found she rather liked it.  

The scent of his clothing. Very muted, very coy.  Very much  _ him _ , because he didn’t wear cologne.  

She’d asked. And he didn’t.  “For the creatures’ sakes,” he’d purported.  

Tina secretly hoped it was at least a little bit for her sake as well. Because she couldn’t get enough of the way he smelled. It was another one of those things she liked to daydream about.  

The thump of a stack of papers woke her from her reverie. She glanced up, eyeing Graves from across the room. He was looking at her rather strangely. But then again, he always looked at her strangely.

She suspected it had to do with his kidnapping. If she were him, she’d always wonder what everyone really thought of her. Especially with an evil wizard using his likeness to do his evil will.  It was all rather difficult to quantify in her mind.  

Yet another reason to daydream. Her work and social life were muddled.  

She smiled at Percival, a tight sort of expression, one that she was sure was devoid of light and realness.  A perfunctory gesture at best, she wasn’t sure why she bothered when they both knew how fake it was.  

He smiled back, just as fake as hers.  At least the feeling was mutual.  

* * *

 

Her mind was all but made up.  

She’d been pocketing her wand after a particularly harrowing mission, finally safe back at MACUSA headquarters. She reached up to wipe something off her cheek, only to discover that she’d been cut and hadn’t realized it. Tina pulled the wand back out and mumbled a quick first aid spell to staunch the bleeding until she could see a mediwitch.  

Graves approached her, his eyes worriedly inspecting the wound before nodding his head.  “Weren’t you scared, Ms Goldstein?”  he asked, sending for a mediwitch as he summoned her chair.  

Tina sat back in it and shook her head. “Not at all.” It felt strange to say, but she wasn’t even remotely excited. Her heart rate was normal. The smallest bit elevated because of the portkey back, but that was to be expected when one was travelling via portkey.  

“Good. That’s good. You kept a cool head.  That’s the kind of thing we need around here.  Especially in leadership…” he said, hinting heavily at something that once would have made her jump for joy.  

“I suppose I did,” she replied, nodding. “Yes, I did keep a cool head, sir.”  

“That’s a difficult thing to come by in an Auror. Especially one who has a reputation for being hot-headed,” Graves reiterated.  There were those same implications in his words.  Tina still couldn’t muster up any excitement at the prospect of what he was implicitly offering.  

“Care to take over a squadron of your own Tina? It’ll come with a wage increase. I know that sister of yours is living over across the pond now, maybe it’ll help her out some? Can’t imagine she’s able to find much work over that way…” 

“She’s found work with the Ministry, actually,” Tina corrected him. “And Jacob’s bakery is doing wonderfully.”  

“He’s the No-Maj, right?” Graves asked.  

Tina pressed her lips together and nodded. “Yessir.”  

“What do you say? Your own squadron?” he asked, changing the subject.  

Tina took a deep breath, realizing that she’d already known the answer to his question before he’d even asked her.  She’d known it since she finished the mission. Honestly, she’d known it even before. It was why her mind was always wandering lately.  

Everyone she loved was in England. So why was  _ she _ still here?

“No,” she replied definitively. “I don’t want my own squadron. And quite frankly, I don’t want to work here anymore. I don’t even…” she trailed off, shaking her head. “I quit, Percy.”  

He wasn’t nearly as surprised as she thought he’d be.  Instead, he smiled, a bit forced, but a smile nonetheless. “I understand, Tina. I figured as much. It’s… it’s why I pushed for them to promote you earlier...I thought we might lose you to…” He paused for a moment before continuing. “To the Ministry.”  

“Well,  _ the Ministry _ is where I want to be,” she replied. There were several layers of subtext in that statement.  Layers she didn’t want to address.  

“Well, I hope  _ the Ministry _ makes you happy. And I hope you’ll write some. We’ll all miss you.”  

She nodded once, reaching out to shake his hand.  She leaned back in her chair to wait for the mediwitch, her mind already buzzing with everything she’d need to take care of before exacting her plan.

* * *

 

Her bag packs itself. Even without magic, it would have been a piece of cake.  

She turns in her key to Ms. Esposito and instead of paying her rent, pockets the money on the way to the pawn shop to sell most of her jewelry to make up the rest of the money for her ticket.  

She was certain Newt would have offered to pay her way. Or he might have even sailed over to help her pack, but she didn’t want to wait. 

Tina exchanged her currency for No-Maj dollars, since she’s planning on purchasing her fare on a No-Maj liner.  Especially necessary since the normal wizarding ways of travelling abroad weren’t really available since Grindelwald’s appearance two years before. 

She sent off a letter to Newt on the way to the docks. It should get there the day before she does, via Wizard mailing methods. She paid a bit more to rush it. It wouldn’t do to surprise him on his doorstep when he wasn’t prepared for her. It would be rude. And the last thing she wanted to be to Newt Scamander was rude.  

Her heart was beating frantically as she approached the ticket counter. “One.  For London,” she said, smiling widely as she counts out the bills to the no Maj behind the counter.

He offers her a stiff smile and hands her the ticket. “You better run, Missy, that boat’s about to leave.”  

Run, she does. It takes her nearly no time at all to find the correct loading deck. Her shoes thump on the gangplank as she runs up to the ticket taker.  

“You’re cutting it close,” he said with a laugh, punching her ticket. “You travelling alone?  Aren’t you scared?  It’s a long trip.”  

She steps onto the liner and shrugs. “I’m terrified.  But… but it’s a good kind of terrified,” she reiterates, smiling widely as she makes her way down the narrow hall in the direction he points her. 

It was definitely the good kind of terrified.  

* * *

 

Newt awoke that morning to the sound of someone pounding on the door to his flat.  Disoriented, he blinked a few times, glancing at the clock before he really and truly registered exactly what was happening.  

_ Tina. _

His thoughts went immediately to the letter on his desk.  He’d gotten it the day before, on a rush owl. It detailed her arrival time and when exactly he should expect her.  

Throwing back the covers, he scrambled out from beneath them, narrowly grabbing his housecoat and throwing it over his shoulders on the way to the front door.  

She must have come in early… or else he’d slept late. A quick glance at the clock confirmed the former.  His stomach calmed somewhat, but only just. It was, after all…  _ Tina _ .  His Tina.  

His Tina, who was suddenly and certainly coming to live here in London.  

It still felt like a dream.  

He threw open the door, blinking in the bright sunlight as she stepped up to embrace him. Her outline forming in front of him like some sort of angelic being.  

“Newt…” she breathed, leaning in to hug him close. “We docked early.  I’m sorry.  I couldn’t wait.”  

He shook his head. “Not at all, darling. It’s a lovely surprise.”  

She exhaled, her breath hot on his shoulder as she leaned back to look at him. “Isn’t it, though?”  

He had a great number of questions to ask her. Foremost, what had gotten into her and caused this sudden desire to move to London? Just last week, he’d assumed he wouldn’t see her again until Christmas. And now, here she was, in his arms.  

_ In his arms _ .  

He tightened them around her. All other questions could wait. There was just one that was appropriate right at that moment.  

“Are you hungry, Tina?” he asked. “I could make you a fry up.”  

“I don’t know what that is, but it sounds perfect. I’m starving.”  

“Very good, then…” he said, “Breakfast it is.”  

Then, they had the rest of their lives for questions.  


End file.
